BEIJING — Typhoon Dolphin disrupted air travel and prompted the evacuation of more than 1 million people along China's eastern coast after making landfall in Zhejiang province, with authorities warning of continued heavy rain, flooding and landslides.
Dolphin made landfall near Yuhuan in eastern Zhejiang at about 5:30 p.m. local time on Sunday, China's meteorological authorities said. The storm brought maximum sustained winds of about 151 km/h near its centre and was described by Reuters as the most powerful tropical cyclone to hit China this year.
Transport services were disrupted across eastern China. Shanghai cancelled about 1,500 flights, according to flight-tracking data provider VariFlight, while the city's Yangshan port moved more than 500 small and medium-sized vessels to shelter. At least 30,300 people were evacuated in Shanghai.
The cancellations followed earlier disruptions at Shanghai's Hongqiao and Pudong airports, where more than 1,300 flights had been cancelled as the storm approached, according to the Associated Press. Authorities also suspended ferries and other water-based activities in parts of Zhejiang.
Evacuations were concentrated in areas at risk from flooding and landslides. More than 900,000 people were relocated in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, where authorities opened more than 1,000 emergency shelters, while Fujian province evacuated about 98,900 people from high-risk areas, state news agency Xinhua reported.
Forecasters warned that torrential rain would continue across Zhejiang, Shanghai, northern Fujian, northeastern Jiangxi, central and southern Anhui and much of Jiangsu through Monday. Parts of central and eastern Zhejiang could receive between 250 and 500 mm of rain, raising the risk of flooding and landslides, Reuters reported.
Fujian maritime authorities suspended 55 coastal passenger ferry routes, halted 115 offshore construction projects and moved 290 construction vessels to sheltered waters. China's water resources authorities warned that several rivers, including the Qiantang, Yong, Jiao and Shuiyang, could experience major flooding.
National Meteorological Centre chief forecaster Wang Haiping told state broadcaster CCTV that Dolphin was expected to move westward after landfall, slow over central and southwestern China and gradually weaken.
The storm had earlier passed through Japan's Okinawa prefecture, where six people were injured and more than 50,000 buildings lost power, before reaching China's coast.
